Theater and speech teacher Tim Frawley is pushing for authenticity in Libertyville High School's Feb. 6 and 7 production of "Macbeth." He has formed an armorers guild in which students construct full suits of chain mail, link by painstaking link. "In the past, chain mail costumes were spray-painted long underwear, and that is really lame looking," Frawley said. To learn how to make chain mail, Frawley went to the Internet. The guild formed last spring when about a...

By Isla Binnie MILAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Tight-fitting dresses hung with chains at Versace and rippling skirts worn over loose trousers at Emporio Armani turned heads at Milan fashion week on Friday, as designers offered up a host of contrasting styles. Chain mail worked its way into black T-shirts with biker logos and evening dresses in the spring-summer 2014 collection by Italian fashion house Versace, alongside flippy skirts over high platform...

Trying on chain mail, blowing a deep bellow on a battle horn and testing the edges of swords and axes, about 20 boys and girls got a closeup look at life in the Middle Ages last weekend at the New Lenox Public Library. "They don't make doors like they used to," said Randal Cieszynski Jr. of Manteno, easing his massive 6-foot-plus frame and his collection of medieval weapons through the doorway of the library meeting room. Cieszynski, decked out in full chain mail and leaning on a carved...

Burberry is a coat company, true. But Christopher Bailey has made it so much more than that in his tenure as creative director. That's one reason his Burberry Prorsum fall fashion show, presented by Nordstrom at Millennium Park on Tuesday, drew not only whoops of approval but also Vogue's famed editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley. This first showing of the collection outside of Milan, a benefit for the Lookingglass Theatre, made it clear why Burberry has posted sales gains at Nordstrom recently.

The transformation of 7-year-old Alabama visitor Kayla Twilley into a medieval peasant went quickly as a large green broadcloth robe went over her pastel, tie-dyed T-shirt and a matching hood masked her long strawberry curls. And the sight of 5-year-old Zack Darce of Aurora squirming under the weight of his metal vest made of chain mail showed that serving as a simple page in the 12th Century was heavy work indeed. The children were among seven volunteers chosen from an audience...

Burberry is a coat company, true. But Christopher Bailey has made it so much more than that in his tenure as creative director. That's one reason his Burberry Prorsum fall fashion show, presented by Nordstrom at Millennium Park on Tuesday, drew not only whoops of approval but also Vogue's famed editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley. This first showing of the collection outside of Milan, a benefit for the Lookingglass Theatre, made it clear why Burberry has reported sales gains at...

The Society of American Fight Directors test for proficiency in eight types of weapons skills: - Unarmed - Rapier/dagger - Quarterstaff - Broadsword - Small sword - Single-sword - Knife - Sword-and-shield LORD OF THE SWORD The Chicago Swordplay Guild teaches newcomers two basic weapons--the longsword and rapier. Students then graduate to these other swords and equipment. - Cloak and dagger (It's not just a clandestine activity,...

The Society of American Fight Directors test for proficiency in eight types of weapons skills: - Unarmed - Rapier/dagger - Quarterstaff - Broadsword - Small sword - Single-sword - Knife - Sword-and-shield LORD OF THE SWORD The Chicago Swordplay Guild teaches newcomers two basic weapons--the longsword and rapier. Students then graduate to these other swords and equipment. - Cloak and dagger (It's not just a clandestine activity,...

Hundreds of fairgoers heard legends recounted by storytellers and traditional airs played by bagpipers, watched Scottish and Irish dancers perform their intricate steps and snacked on tea and scones at Midlothian's Scottish Fair on Saturday. For many, the fair was a nostalgic event. "My dad was born in Scotland," said Karen Blakemore of Midlothian, who brought her children, Kelli, 12, and Matthew, 5 months, and her niece Margo Pappas, 11, of Homer Township. "Grandpa used to get...

Hundreds of fairgoers heard legends recounted by storytellers and traditional airs played by bagpipers, watched Scottish and Irish dancers perform their intricate steps and snacked on tea and scones at Midlothian's Scottish Fair on Saturday. For many, the fair was a nostalgic event. "My dad was born in Scotland," said Karen Blakemore of Midlothian, who brought her children, Kelli, 12, and Matthew, 5 months, and her niece Margo Pappas, 11, of Homer Township. "Grandpa used to get...

By Text by Lisa Anderson, a Tribune feature writer | February 23, 1986

Only Gianni Versace, perhaps, could design an evening dress out of chain mail, make it slink like silk and expect international beauties like Meryl Streep and Princess Caroline of Monaco to wear it--as they did. Blending the sensibilities of the Renaissance and the Space Age, Versace, 39, made his mark with curvy, sculptural designs and an innovative approach to fabrics and textures. A prolific designer who also has created costumes for the opera and ballet, Versace last year...

Mary Bright, a curtain designer, has never in her life done the expected with a curtain. Where one expects silk, she unfurls burlap. Where one looks for symmetry, she conjures jubilantly mismatched panels in pink and blue, one long, one short. Where one expects something minimally conformist such as fabric, Bright unveils a curtain of chain mail. "I try to find other ways besides using fringe and tassels to make curtains look interesting," Bright said, stroking a glinting, loosely gathered creation...

In response to every writer who took time to sit down and regurgitate in writing over and over again about how BSB is better than Hanson, or vice versa, I just have a few words to say: "Stop it, you're wasting your time and abundant supply of wide-ruled notebook paper." Doesn't anybody not like a sappy harmonizing and/or playing group of sellouts? There is a major crisis in the rock/alternative department! Rock is starting to die! What used to rule the charts and minds of millions of people is...

In response to every writer who took time to sit down and regurgitate in writing over and over again about how BSB is better than Hanson, or vice versa, I just have a few words to say: "Stop it, you're wasting your time and abundant supply of wide-ruled notebook paper." Doesn't anybody not like a sappy harmonizing and/or playing group of sellouts? There is a major crisis in the rock/alternative department! Rock is starting to die! What used to rule the charts and minds of millions of people is...

Seems we're enamored with John Travolta--or at least the beer-guzzling, cereal-chomping, winged version in "Michael"--so much so that moviegoers have given the film the "best Christmas opening ever." "Michael" landed atop the box-office heap this weekend, with an estimated $17.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates. With the $27.93 mil earned since opening Christmas Day, "Michael" appears (final figures will be out Monday) to have beaten out 1990's...

Mary Bright, a curtain designer, has never in her life done the expected with a curtain. Where one expects silk, she unfurls burlap. Where one looks for symmetry, she conjures jubilantly mismatched panels in pink and blue, one long, one short. Where one expects something minimally conformist such as fabric, Bright unveils a curtain of chain mail. "I try to find other ways besides using fringe and tassels to make curtains look interesting," Bright said, stroking a glinting, loosely gathered...

Burberry is a coat company, true. But Christopher Bailey has made it so much more than that in his tenure as creative director. That's one reason his Burberry Prorsum fall fashion show, presented by Nordstrom at Millennium Park on Tuesday, drew not only whoops of approval but also Vogue's famed editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley. This first showing of the collection outside of Milan, a benefit for the Lookingglass Theatre, made it clear why Burberry has posted sales gains at Nordstrom recently.

Theater and speech teacher Tim Frawley is pushing for authenticity in Libertyville High School's Feb. 6 and 7 production of "Macbeth." He has formed an armorers guild in which students construct full suits of chain mail, link by painstaking link. "In the past, chain mail costumes were spray-painted long underwear, and that is really lame looking," Frawley said. To learn how to make chain mail, Frawley went to the Internet. The guild formed last spring when about a...

Mary Bright, a curtain designer, has never in her life done the expected with a curtain. Where one expects silk, she unfurls burlap. Where one looks for symmetry, she conjures jubilantly mismatched panels in pink and blue, one long, one short. Where one expects something minimally conformist such as fabric, Bright unveils a curtain of chain mail. "I try to find other ways besides using fringe and tassels to make curtains look interesting," Bright said, stroking a glinting, loosely gathered...

Trying on chain mail, blowing a deep bellow on a battle horn and testing the edges of swords and axes, about 20 boys and girls got a closeup look at life in the Middle Ages last weekend at the New Lenox Public Library. "They don't make doors like they used to," said Randal Cieszynski Jr. of Manteno, easing his massive 6-foot-plus frame and his collection of medieval weapons through the doorway of the library meeting room. Cieszynski, decked out in full chain mail and leaning on a carved...